Metallic foil packaging machine



Aug. 5, 1958 F. R. DOHERTY usmuc FOIL PACKAGING MACHINE Filed Nov. 4,1954 INVENTOR.

FLOYD R. DOHERTY ATTORNE Unite The present invention relates to ametallic foil packaging machine and more particularly to a machine forfolding the free edge of a metallic foil package to secure a cover orthe like therebeneath.

In the packaging of foods and the like, metallic foil containers haverecently come into use. These containers are particularly well adaptedfor baked goods and the like, since the container itself can be used toreheat the food, as well as forming an attractive package therefor.However, the popularity of this type of con tainer has posed a problemfor the small food producer or baker, since the only packaging machineryheretofore provided which is adaptable to the use of such containers isof relatively large size and is quite expensive. The present inventionprovides an extremely simple, inexpensive machine which may be utilizedfor the packing of bakery goods or the like within metallic foilcontainers. Thus, the use of a machine of the present invention makes iteconomically feasible for the relatively small producer of food stuffsto utilize the metallic foil packaging techniques which have proved sosuccessful for the larger establishments of this type.

For use with the present invention, foil containers are provided in theform of shallow, open-topped, circular pans having out-turned annularledge surfaces terminating in an upturned annular rim. To close the opencontainer, a circular lid or top is utilized, the top being positionedon the out-turned ledge and secured thereto by deforming the rimdownwardly and inwardly to smoothly overlie the ledge of the lid. Thelid is thus locked to the container by the positioning of the annularedge of the lid between the ledge and the in-turned container rim.

The machine of the present invention comprises essentially a supportingsurface. conforming to the contour and size of the annular ledge of thecontainer and adapted to receive the ledge thereagainst to support thesame. The machine is also provided with a rotating head which carriesmeans for contacting the upstanding container rim and for deforming therim inwardly and downwardly to lie smoothly against the top which hasbeen previously positioned upon the container ledge. This means fordeforming the rim preferably comprises a deforming element having aninclined abutting edge adapted to contain the rim and to initiallydeform the same inwardly toward the center of the container, and arotatable element positioned immediately adjacent the edge and adaptedto further deform the rim into intimate contact with the cover. Therotatable element has an axis which is parallel to the plane of thecontainer top, while the initial contacting edge is inclined withrespect to this plane, so that the rim is initially deformed smoothly bythe edge into the path of the rotating element.

It is, therefore, an important object of the present invention toprovide an improved, simple, and inexpensive metallic foil packagingmachine.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a packagingmachine particularly adapted for use with metallic foil packages andhaving means for deforming Paten an upstanding package rim into intimateretaining contact with a package top.

A further important object of this invention is the provision of animproved metallic foil packaging machine particularly adapted for usewith packages having an outwardly directed annular ledge and anupstanding terminal rim, including a planar supporting surface adaptedto abut theunderside of the container ledge, an inclined deformingsurface for initially contacting the container rim, and a rotatableelement adjacent the inclined surface and moveable about an axisparallel to the container ledge for deforming the rim inwardly tooverlie the edge so that the container top will be locked between theledge and the rim.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent fromthe disclosures in the specification and the accompanying drawings.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a machine of the presentinvention, the machine being shown in its normal or non-operatingcondition in solid lines and in its operated condition in dottedoutline;

Figure 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary view, partly in section, furtherillustrating the operation of a machine of the present invention;

Figure 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken along theplane 33 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged, prospective view of that portion of the machineshown in Figure 2 and further illustrating the operation of the machine.

As shown on the drawings:

In Figure 1, reference numeral 10 refers generally to a metallic foilpackaging machine of the present invention particularly adapted for usewith a package best shown in Figure 2. The package comprises a generallycylindrical, shallow, open-topped pan or the like having a bottom 11 anda circular upstanding side wall 12 having an annular out-turned ledge 13adjacent the open top thereof and terminating in an upstanding rim 14.The pan is preferably formed of metallic foil formed of a suitablemetallic material, such as aluminum, magnesium or the like. The pan ispreferably closed by a generally circular top 15 formed of a suitablematerial, such as cardboard or the like, and which may be provided witha transparent center portion, if desired. The top 15 is of a size tooverlie the side walls 12 of the pan, the top normally being in contactwith the annular ledge 15 and fitting within the' circumference definedby the annular rim 14.

The machine 10, as illustrated in Figure l in a preferred embodimentthereof, is provided with a plurality of upstanding legs 16 joined to asupporting surface or base 17 extending between the legs 16 and providedwith a central cylindrical recess 18 of a size and contour toaccommodate the entry of the pan 12 therein with the ledge 13 overlyingthe surface 17, and in contact therewith. As shown on the drawings, therecess 18 may be provided by a dropped central portion 19 of the surface17, although it will be appreciated that the top may be built up toprovide the recess 18. event, the pan ledge 13 snugly abuts adjacentannular surface 20 formed on the machine base 17.

The machine base 17 supports an upstanding arm 21 having an in-turnedflange 22 which overlies the stand recess 18 and which has a centralopening 22 therein. Preferably, the opening 22 is concentric with therecess 18 and is vertically spaced thereabove. The recess 22 is adaptedto receive therethru an actuating rod 23 guided by the recess 22 forvertical reciprocatory motion and carrying beneath the flange 21 a crankarm 24 having at its outer end an upstanding handle 25. The crank arm 24is secured to the rod 23 on its upper surface In any and on its lowersurface carries a cross head 26 ejecting laterally in a planesubstantially normal to that of the crank arm 24. The cross head 26 isprovided with terminal down-turned cars 27 at each end thereof. Thesecars 27 are apertured to receive therethrough bolts or the like 28forming axles for rotatable rollers 29. The rollers 29 are rotatableabout the axes defined by the bolts 28, the rotatable axes of therollers 29 being parallel to the plane of the machine base 17 and alsoparallel to the plane of the container ledges 13 when the container ispositioned within the recess 18 as heretofore described.

The crosshead 26 also carries adjacent its outer extremities a pair ofdeforming elements 30, which might be termed plows. These plows 30 aresecured to the crosshead 26 by suitable means, such as screws 31, andare provided with a first or upper surface 32 lying snugly against thecrosshead 26 and having depending portions 32 hanging down adjacent therollers 29 and in advance thereof in the normal direction of rotation ofthe crosshead 26. The depending portions 32 of the plows have theirlower portions 33 deformed outwardly ahead of the rotatable elements 29and these portions 33 are provided with terminal or deforming surfaces34 which are inclined generally inwardly and upwardly of the container,as best shown in Figure 2. To define a smooth surface, the terminal lips34 are preferably provided by turning back the sheet metal of which theplows are formed, so that the under surfaces 35 of the plows aredirected toward the rollers 29 as best seen in Figure 4.

To aid in guiding the actuating rod 23, the flange 22 is provided withan upstanding additional element 37. This element 37 includes a verticalleg 38, a downwardly and rearwardly inclined leg 39, and an upperhorizontal guide surface 40 which is centrally apertured to slidablyreceive the rod 29 therethru. The surface 40 also serves to bottom acompression spring 41 which is interposed between the surface 40 and awasher 42 carried by the rod and secured thereto by suitable means, asby a cotter key 43.

The rod 23 may be reciprocated vertically by means of a treadle 44formed at the end of a lever 45 pivoted, as at 46, to a brace 47 carriedby one or more of the legs 16. The lever 45 carries at its free or rearend a pivot 48 joined to the lower end of an actuating link 49. The link49 extends vertically from the pivot point 48 and in turn is pivotallyjoined at its upper end, as at 50, to the rear end of an additionallever 51 centrally pivoted, as at 52, to an upstanding arm 53 carried bythe flange 22. The free end of the lever 51 generally overlies the rod23. The free end 52 of this lever may be twisted to provide an abutmentsurface adapted to contact the upper end of the actuating rod 23. Itwill be seen that depression of the treadle 44 to its dotted position ofFigure 1 will depress the rod 23 against the action of the spring 41 tolower the crosshead toward the base 17 of the machine. The rod may belowered sufiiciently to bring the plows 30 and the rollers 29 intocontact with the upstanding rim 14 of the container 12. The furtherdepression of the pedal will cause the roller to lie snugly against theupstanding rim when the same has been deformed to overlie the outermarginal edges of the cover 15, as shown in Figures 2, 3, and 4. Thelever 45 is urged to its upper position by a tension spring 54 joined toa medial portion of the lever 45 and to the under surface of the base17. The lever also carries an upstanding rod 55 having a clevis 56 atits lower end straddling the lever 45 and the rod 55 carries at itsupper end a generally circular plate 57 adapted to receive the bottom 11of the container 12 thereagainst. Depression of the treadle 44 will notonly push the rod 23 down, but will allow the rod 55 to drop, so thatthe plate 57 will assume its lowered position as shown in Figure 2.Release of the treadle will allow the plate 57 to travel upwardly underthe tension of the spring 54 to eject the completed-container from themachine.

The operation of the machine shown in the drawings will be readilyappreciated. To form the completed package, the open-topped cylindricalcontainer 12 is placed upon the raised plate 57, which normally occupiesits upper dotted position shown in Figure 1, at which the plate iscoplanar with the base 17 of the machine. Preferably, before thecontainer has been placed upon the plate, the cardboard or similar top15 has been positioned upon the ledge 13 and opposing portions of therim 14 have been deformed downwardly to lie parallel to the ledge 13 toretain the top in this position and to condition the rim 14 forclinching movement.

Next, the treadle 44 is depressed. This movement of the treadle willallow the plate 57 to assume its position as illustrated in Figure 2with the container positioned within the recess 18 and with the ledge 13snugly abutting the corresponding surface 20 of the machine base 17.This same movement of the treadle will cause depression of the crosshead26 by actuation of the rod 23 against the compressive force of thespring 41. The crosshead will be lowered until the rollers 29 contactthe previously deformed portion of the rim 14. The crosshead 26 is nowrotated by arcuate movement of the crosshead lever 24, as by means ofthe handle 25.

Movement of the crosshead through an angle of will completely deform therim l4 downwardly to smoothly and snugly overlie the marginal portionsof the cover 15. This action is accomplished by the cooperating actionof the plows 30 and the rollers 29. As the crosshead is rotated, theinclined surface 34 of the plows first will contact the rim and move thesame inwardly until it lies at an acute angle with respect to the ledge13. This position'of the rim is shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. Afterthe rim has been inwardly deformed initially by the plows, the rollerswill next contact the rim and will deform the same snugly into con tactwith the top to clinch the top between the U-shaped integral andcontinuous surfaces formed by the ledge 13 and the inwardly deformed rim14. It will be noted that this in-folding movement of the rim 14 occursin two distinct steps, and that the rim is first partially deformedinwardly by the inclined plow surfaces 34 and finally caused to lie flatagainst the top by the rotating rollers. Thus, the folding movementoccurs as a result of first contacting the rim with the moving, butnon-rotatable, inclined surface 34 of the plows, followed by a finalclosing movement by virtue of the contacting of the rim with therotatable rollers 29.

After the crosshead has been rotated sufliciently to snugly deform therim 14 into smooth continuous contact with the upper surface of the top15, the foot treadle 44 is released. The tension spring 44 will returnthe plate 57 to its upper position of Figure 1, while at the same timethe compression spring 41 will return the crosshead to its raisedposition of Figure 1. Thus, the crosshead is moved out of the way of thecontainer, and the container is ejected from the recess 18. Thecompleted container, together with the contents thereof, may now beremoved from the machine.

It would be appreciated that the present invention thus provides anextremely simple, inexpensive, easily usable machine for providing ametallic foil package in which a. top is securely clinched between alaterally extended, double thickness flange formed integrally with themetallic package itself. The advantages of the present machine, itssimplicity of operation, and the effective closure of the package byutilization of the machine will be readily understood.

It will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to theexact construction shown and described, but that various changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention, as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A packaging machine for clinching a cover upon a container having alaterally directed annular ledge receiving the cover and an upstandingintegral rim encompassing the cover comprising means providing asupporting surface upon which said ledge is supportable, a rotatablecrosshead positioned above said supporting surface for rotation about anaxis concentric with said annular ledge, a roller carried by saidcrosshead and adapted for rollable contact with said rim, and a plowalso carried by said crosshead and positioned adjacent said roller, saidplow having an inclined surface contactable with said rim in advance ofsaid roller to deform the same laterally from its upstanding position sothat the roller will subsequently flatten the rim snugly against thecover to secure the same between the ledge and the flattened rim.

2. In a machine for securing a circular cover to a container having anannular ledge bearing the cover and a rim encompassing the cover, afixed base having a surface adapted to receive the container ledgethereagainst, supporting means on said base superimposed over saidsurface, a crosshead carried by said supporting means for vertical andarcuate movement and bearing a plurality of rollers spaced about theaxis of arcuate crosshead movement, said rollers being verticallyaligned with the container rim, means on said crosshead providingdeforming surfaces inclined both vertically and radially with respect tosaid axis of crosshead movement, said deforming surfaces beingpositioned in advance of said rollers in the direction of rotation ofsaid crosshead, means for vertically 6 moving said crosshead to bringsaid deforming surfaces and said rollers into contact with said rim, andmeans on said crosshead for rotating the same about an axis concentricwith said annular ledge to sequentially subject said rim to thedeforming action of said deforming surfaces and said rollers.

3. In a packaging machine having a central cylindrical recess adapted toreceive a foil package therein and an annular surface adjacent therecess to underly a corresponding ledge on the package, the packageledge having a terminal upstanding rim thereabout, means for deformingthe package rim into intimate contact with a cover on the ledge,comprising a roller rotatable about an axis parallel to the plane of thepackage ledge, a plow positioned immediately adjacent the roller andhaving a fixed surface inclined upwardly and inwardly toward the centerof the recess, means supporting said roller and said plow for verticalmovement into contact with said rim and means rotatable about an axisconcentric with the recess for moving the roller and the plow about thepackage ledge to deform the package rim to overlie the cover bysequentially subjecting said rim to the folding action of said plow andsaid roller.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,481,347 Carle Jan. 22, 1924 2,236,252 Spangler Mar. 25, 1941 2,349,056Serai May 16, 1944 2,410,059 Garrison Oct. 29, 1946

